Adam RasmussenChannel 2 News
Local authorities are taking another step in the fight against prescription drug abuse.
The problem continues to skyrocket across the country, especially with teenagers. Instead of waiting for drug roundups, locals can now get rid of pills anytime they want at permanent prescription drop boxes across town.
Wednesday, The Reno Police Department cracked open one of those boxes for us. It's only been in place a couple weeks, but inside are bottles and plastic bags filled with pills and other medications.
"We needed something permanent that's in a secure location where people can come and safely, confidentially just drop something off and go," says Stacy Shamblin, a prevention coordinator with the Reno Police Department.
There's three of these drop boxes in town. One is at the Washoe County Sheriff's Office and the other two are at the Reno Police Department on 455 East 2nd Street, and the Sparks Police Department at 1701 East Prater Way.
So far, people have taken advantage of the new drop off locations, disposing of medication that may have been sitting around for quite some time.
"The common comment we get is, 'They have been in my cupboard for a couple of years and I didn't know what to do with them,'" says Kevin Quint with Join Together Northern Nevada.
Authorities also hold drug roundups twice a year and say they have been a big success. In six roundups, they collected more than 600,000 pills. Quint says most of those pills are pain killers.
Those are drugs that law enforcement hopes to keep off the streets and out of kids' hands, something these new drop boxes help accomplish.
"It won't be so easy for anybody, especially a teenager, to just walk into mom or dad or grandma's medicine cabinet and take a few pain pills without anybody noticing," says Shamblin.
Because the drug roundups have received such positive feedback from the community, authorities hope the boxes will garner even more support. Around the country, people are dying from prescription drug abuse, and local authorities want to make clear how dangerous some medications can be.
"You need to lock these things up or if you don't need them anymore, you need to get rid of them because you may not be paying attention, but somebody else will," says Shamblin.
Another way to safely dispose of old medications at home is by crushing pills in a plastic bag, then add kitty litter or wet coffee grounds. After that, seal the bag and throw it in the trash.
